SJM wants smoking rooms to continue

Ambrose So

Ambrose So said that SJM supports the continued presence of smoking rooms in casinos, despite government officials’ determination to impose a full smoking ban. The CEO of casino operator SJM also believes that the new measures by the mainland authorities, which seek to deter Chinese citizens from gambling overseas, will not have any impact on the company.
“SJM does not oppose a full smoking ban. We think that casinos can still install smoking rooms, which is not in conflict with a smoking ban,” he said. “It is just like the smoking rooms in the airports in Hong Kong and Macau, where a full smoking ban is in place. We are only respecting the habits of smokers and they would not affect non-
smokers [when smoking] in a smoking room.”
Mr So said that SJM supports the installation of smoking rooms in casinos, but he said that the matter has yet to be determined by government policies and the opinions of residents and casino workers.
In terms of the impact of a full smoking ban, he said that there are many factors affecting gaming revenue, and the smoking ban is not the most significant. “There are various factors [affecting gaming revenue]. Even if there was not a smoking ban, the revenue of the VIP room would still have dropped. It is very difficult to calculate how much the revenue will drop if a full smoking ban [is implemented],” he said.
When facing a decline in revenue, So said that it is up to the casino operators to improve their operational efficiency and to control costs. However, he said that cost control does not necessarily involve employee layoffs. Instead, he said that casinos can reduce unnecessary promotional measures, which he said accounts for a considerable portion of their expenses.
Moreover, SJM’s CEO commented that while there has been a drop in the VIP revenue and an increase in mass market revenue, it is still difficult for the mass market gain to compensate for the decrease in VIP business.
He predicted that Macau’s gaming revenue will continue to decline in the first half of the year, and expressed hopes for a more stable trend or a gradual gain starting in the second half of 2015. Nevertheless, he said that the revenue adjustment will not affect Macau’s economy.
He also claimed that the mainland authorities’ recent announcement that they will tackle overseas casinos’ promotional activities in mainland China, which has allegedly lured Chinese citizens to gamble overseas, is not affecting SJM. He said that SJM has never placed any advertisements in mainland China. “I don’t know whether other concessionaires advertised themselves in the mainland or have set up agencies there, but [SJM] has never had any,” he said. JPL